Turbine



July 26,1927. 1,637,105

W. M. CROSS TURBINE Filed Aug. 20, 1924 Patented July 26, 1927.

omrso stare-s rarsm OFFIP-GE- WALTER M- emes. or KANSA$ TY. MI$SQUBL TURBINE,

Application filed August 20, 1924. Serial ,No. 733,082.

the high pressures at which a turbine of' this character is operated; toprovide a construction which permits the utilization of high pressureswithout the attendant dangers due to the enclosing of the entire "construction in a heavy reenforced forged steel casing, and. in general, to provide a construction of the character referred to.

Fig. 1 is a sectional side view showing the turbine construction diagrammatically with parts of the shaft hearings or journals broken away.

Fig. 2 is a view taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a right-hand end View of the reenforcement shell with a ournal bearing and turbine removed.

Fig. i is a view of the internal casing divided to show the turbine rotor.

In the drawings, the turbine shown is of the Parsons type, and for simplicity the details of the construction have been shown only diagrammatically. The forged reen for-cement shell 1 has two end plates or journal plates 2 and 8 which support the rotor shaft i. On the shaft is mounted a drum 5, upon the periphery of which are positioned the rotating vanes 6. Between these rotating vanes are stationary vanes 7 which are mounted within the separate halves of the interior casing 8. Normally the casing 8 is constructed sufficiently strong to withstand steam pressure at which the turbine is operated. In the present construction. however, it is unnecessary, due to the fact that it is enclosed within the reenforcenient shell and therefore this inner casing need only have suflicient strength to properly support the stationary vanes.

The internal casing is formed in separate stages of operation, the steam passing from the smaller high pressure stage progressively to the larger low pressure stages. In the drawings, but three stages have been shown, but any one may be utilized toobtain the most effic ent operation and in order to extract the greater amount of work from the power medium. i

To assemble the, turbine, the rotor, con sisting of the drum 5iipon which the rotat- 111g vanes are mounted and shaft 4, is inserted within the two halves of the interior casing 8 in the manner shown in Fig. .1, so that the stationary vanes of thecasing alternate with the rotating vanes of therotor. This casing is then slid into'the reenforcement shell and may be wedged into position either :by

slightly tapering the separate shoulders of the different stages to fit tightly into the tapered interior walls of the shell or the casing may be keyed in the shell by means of a key shown at 9 to prevent'the rotation of the casing in the shell. The journal plates 2 and 3 are then bolted onto the outide shell and properly gasketed in order to form a pressure-tight enclosure for the turbine casing. The journal plate 2 is equipped with a high pressure channel 10 to which is connected the high pressure steam line 11 and the journal plate 3 with the low pres sure exhaust channel 12 to which is connected the low pressure line 13. The steam is introduced at high pressure through the line 11 from any convenient source, preferably the pressures in excess of 800 to 1,000 pounds per square inch. This high pressure steam is directed by the initial stationary vane on to the first high pressure rotor from which it is ricocheted from the successive stationary and rotating vanes from the high pressure through the succeeding low pressure stages in a manner well known to those versed in the art. I

As suggested heretofore, the particular type of turbine construction forms no part of the present invention, as any turbine may be used which can efficiently be operated at high pressures mentioned. As described, the

invention lies broadly in the positioning of I the turbine casing in a high pressure reen forcement shell which is preferably of heavy forged steel construction such as that shown in Fig. 3,--the shell containing the casing being formed in a single unit of uniform texture and strength which is built to Withstand the excessive pressures and temperatures to which it is subjected. To disassem ble the turbine in case repairs are necessary, the end journals are removed, the casing jacked from the reenforcement shell, the interior casing divided and repairs made in the usual manner. I

Heretofore, difiicultieshave been experienced in maintaining high pressure turbine casings tight, particularly where the separate halves of the casing are fitted together due to the uneven heating of the high and low pressure stages. The construction shown utilizing the reenforcement shell eliminates these difiiculties as the whole. turbine assenr bly is positioned within the unitary pressure-tight reenforcement element and leakago due to high pressure eliminated by the use of heavily gasketed journal plates which are easily kept tight due to the uniform heating in the restricted sections to which the pressure joints are limited.

I claim as my invention:

1. A steam turbine consisting of a divided casing, arotor positioned therein, a second supplementary pressure-tight reenforcement shell surrounding the complete turbine assembly and fabrlcated as a single unitary shell having end enclosures, bearmgs in the end enclosures adapted to carry the rotor, inlet and exhaust ports in the reenforcenient shell for supplying and exhausting the power medium.

2. A steam turbine, consisting of a divided casing, a rotor positioned therein, a second supplementary pressure light reen' for-cement shell of sul'istantially gr(,-ate1' strength than the inner shell and adapted to withstand aressure in excess of one thousand pounds per square inch, surrounding the complete turbine assembly and fabricated as a unitary forged steel shell, removable end plates for the shellcm'ryingr the rotor bearings, inlet and exhaust ports in the shell for supplying and exhausting a power medium.

WALTER M. CROSS. 

